Christopher Rodriguez was appointed to the role on Friday, coming from six years as the district’s director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA).
The appointment makes Rodriguez the third person this year to helm the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO).
Lindsey Parker had served as CTO for several years, until she became the mayor’s chief of staff in March. In April, Associate Chief Technology Officer for Customer Experience Michael Rupert stepped in as the interim CTO. According to Rupert’s LinkedIn, he has returned to his earlier title.
Rodriguez is taking on two hats, with the mayor appointing him both acting CTO and the assistant city administrator.
He comes to the role with cyber risk management experience from his time with HSEMA as well as from serving as a senior analyst at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.
Rodriguez also has experience coordinating across levels of government, including from his time as incident commander for D.C.’s COVID-19 response, per the press release. That work also included coordinating across local, regional and federal partners to ensure agencies had the funding and guidance. He also hired and trained response teams, oversaw supply procurement and supported physical spaces involved in response.
Additionally, he was the state administrative agent for homeland security federal grant funding to D.C. and the National Capital Region.
